Vienna
by Blackmoondragon1415
Summary: A chance meeting at night leads to a talk between the leader and the muscle of the team.


A/N: I don't own RID 2015, as I see it being called on the interwebs.

Hey all, back and happened to get into this new TF show before the school year ended. First episodes were interesting and fun, though there were some parts that I thought could be explored a bit more, such as the part when Optimus points out to Bumblebee that he has the makings of a great team with him. We see Sideswipe's and Strongarm's reactions, but not Grimlock's, which was both interesting and somewhat troubling, so I felt like I could get two birds with one stone and do a story which touches on both Bee's issues as an up-and-coming leader as well as link some of TF:P and RID2015 while also touching on Grimlock considering what being on a team means, which strikes me as something important given that in the very next episode he seems particularly eager to stay on Bee's good side. Just some rumination here, please read, leave a review, and above all, enjoy!

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Vienna:

The night air was cool, the sounds of the forest familiar and yet foreign as they registered in his audio sensors. The scrap stacked and organized into neat little rows created new and yet intriguing shapes in the dark. As he wandered through aisle after aisle of miscellaneous objects, Bumblebee silently let his mind process all that had taken place that day. It was hardly what he had acclimated to in the days following the war; what with Optimus Prime apparently coming back from the Well to give him a mission-.

The scout briefly shook his head, truncating the line of thought. He wasn't angry with Optimus. He never could be, though the residual tension of the fight with Underbite, the near loss of Denny Clay, and Optimus outright _materializing_ to stop the Chompazoid from crushing the human alive inside of his truck (And Russell had been right there, watching. The later sight of the boy running into his father's arms had been both greatly relieving and made something twist horribly under Bumblebee's plating.). If Optimus hadn't come…

…Don't dwell. It was better not to dwell. That was the whole reason that he was out here, to _not_ dwell. Earth may have been recognizable but sudden changes like this, not to mention all of the events of the day prior, did tend to stir things up. It was almost too much like old times; when had the Decepticon sigil become standard for identifying criminals? He couldn't remember any specific event or notice where this had become the case, but then again his shift as a street cop had been quiet recently. Many of the issues involving the rebuilding of Cybertron had been engulfed in odd interactions between members of his team (sometimes he'd almost forgotten he could talk) and simply getting used to things as they were shaping out to be.

He was a scout, not a leader. His specialty had always been getting information, not really directing people in how to use it. That was Optimus's skill, being able to draw people together, give them confidence, even an utterly mute scout fresh off an energon-soaked battlefield. How was he supposed to lead a team, on Earth, like Optimus had-?

Without realizing it, Bee had meandered over to a pile that had been covered by a tarp, stopping once he realized his walk was having the exact opposite effect of what he'd wanted. Sighing heavily he'd sat down on a flatter looking part of the cover, and immediately sprung up with a staticky gasp as the 'pile' suddenly began to flounder, flailing out from under the covering until a very familiar-looking Dinobot had managed to unearth himself from his plastic encasement.

"W-Wuzz goin'-?" He'd half sputtered, reminding Bumblebee momentarily of a picture he'd seen of a domesticated earth feline that had been sprayed with water. Grimlock being in Dino-mode certainly helped complete the image, though it only lasted a second as the Dinobot recognized him and, in a whirl of parts, folded down into his bot-mode to look over the scout quizzically, grogginess minutely present in his stance.

"Bee? What's going on?"

"Nothing, Grimlock." The scout immediately replied, not particularly sure he wanted to go into specifics about why he was wandering around in the middle of the night. "Just couldn't recharge. What're you doing out here?"

The last managed to stop the question Bee saw coming a mile away, and though he seemed reluctant to be redirected, Grimlock seemed to acknowledge that his inquiry ought to be answered. There were berths on the Alchemor after all, and come to think of it Grimlock had pretty much disappeared once Strongarm had brought up turning in for the night. Internally grimacing at the fact that he had somehow missed the Dinobot wandering off to parts unknown, Bumblebee noted with a bit of bemusement that Grimlock didn't really seem to know how to answer what he'd been asked.

"Umm, well, it's a pretty funny story, y'see…I just…uh…" The fact that he had begun completely avoiding the yellow bot's optics in favor of staring at his claws, which had begun tapping against each other absently, was slightly disconcerting. "It's…kind of dumb. I mean, I know you aren't gonna put me back in a stasis pod or anything, but I was…looking at the ship earlier and I really wasn't sure if I was gonna not get stuck so I figured I'd be better out here…Hey, I could catch anyone that tries to sneak in!"

The utterly apologetic grin that followed prompted an equally sheepish echo to flit over the scout's faceplate for a moment. It felt weirdly ironic, now that he thought on it, that they were both out here doing what basically amounted to hiding.

"What would they be sneaking in for?" He still had to ask.

"Dunno, I'll ask if I see one doing it." Grimlock responded, shrugging nonchalantly with a relatively upbeat grin. The happier shift was somewhat dampened in the next few minutes when the Dinobot suddenly appeared to remember what he'd been diverted from earlier. "Hey, Bumblebee, can I ask you something?"

He guessed he'd have to answer this one eventually. He wasn't sure that he wanted to go into detail about the reason he was out and about when everyone else wasn't, but maybe Grimlock wouldn't try to look too deeply into it if he said he couldn't recharge.

…Right, and maybe Strongarm and Sideswipe would be able to sit in a room together without snapping for more than a few moments.

"Sure."

"D'ya think when the big guy was talking about the team thing, that he was talking about me too?"

Alright, definitely not the question he was expecting, and more or less the scout found himself floundering a bit as he tried to follow the new thread of conversation.

"…You mean Optimus?"

"Yeah, blue and red guy. Him." Grimlock replied blandly as he continued to look at the scout; he still hadn't gotten a direct answer to his question, something that Bee noticed and paused as he considered the nature of the inquiry. From what he remembered, Sideswipe and Strongarm had been the ones reacting to Optimus's observation. He hadn't really taken notice of what Grimlock's reaction had been, though when considering his later decision to put Grimlock on probation…

"I think he did." Bee finally said after a moment of humming and hawing. "Did _you_ think he was talking about you being a part of the team?"

Grimlock took a few uncharacteristic moments to think about his answer, optics roving from the ground to the night sky as he ruminated.

"I think so. Never really been on a team before though."

"There's a first time for everything." Bee responded laconically. Grimlock shrugged before suddenly grinning and playfully punching at the yellow bot's shoulder. It might have knocked him partially off his perch and to the ground, but Bumblebee could thank his time with Bulkhead as more than sufficient preparation for handling situations like this. Looking back up at the Dinobot, he noticed a somewhat proud, yet small grin smattered over the gold faceplate.


End file.
